Erika Menendez (pictured) was charged with murder as a hate crime. Judge Gia Morris ordered that the 31-year-old be held without bail and be given a mental health exam.

Ms Menendez is charged in the death of Sunando Sen, who was crushed by a train in Queens last Thursday night.

Police said that Ms Menendez admitted shoving Mr Sen, who was pushed from behind. She was arrested after a tip by a passer-by who saw her on a street and thought she looked like the woman in a surveillance video released by police.

Ms Menendez allegedly told police that she pushed the man under the train because she has hated Muslims since September 11 and thought he was one.

"I pushed a Muslim off the train tracks because I hate Hindus and Muslims ever since 2001 when they put down the Twin Towers I've been beating them up," she told police, according to the district attorney's office.

Mr Sen (46) was from India, but police said it was unclear if he was Muslim, Hindu or of another faith. He lived in Queens and ran a printing shop.

He was shoved from an elevated platform. Witnesses said a muttering woman rose from her seat on a platform bench and pushed him on the tracks before running off.